This invention relates to handheld printing devices, and specifically to projector guides to assist in movement of a handheld printing device.
Handheld printers are a relatively recent development with a wide range of applicable uses. In particular, printing border effects across the edges of paper has been investigated as well as printing web pages from mobile (telephone) devices. To operate the printer, the user is typically required to manually move the printer across a substrate or sheet of paper. While the printer is in motion, and while it is in an active print mode (often achieved by pressing a button), the handheld printer will print. The printer can sense position on the paper and deposit ink on the page whenever the area under the print element matches an unprinted section of the page image to be printed. The printing can be accomplished using a print engine and print controller implemented in a manner known to persons skilled in the art.
When printing a page with a handheld printer, multiple passes across the paper are usually made to complete a document page. The operator will typically overlap these swaths of print so that no portion of the page is unprinted, leaving a void or print defect. Accordingly, there is a need for a device that assists the operator in locating areas where an image remains to be printed on the page so that adjacent swaths can be printed with minimal overlap and few print voids.